Prescription powder divider



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L. F. MARTIN. JR

PRESCRIPTION POWDER DIVIDER Filed Oct. 16, 19,3

I zIIQJZ Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Louis F. Martin, Jr., Winchester, Tenn., assignor of one-half to Lawrence Hart Sprague, Winchester, Tenn.

Application October 16, 1937, Serial No. 169,454

2 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in prescription powder dividers to be used for dividing individual prescriptions.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple device by which a variable amount of a powder may be divided into any desired number of accurate charts or doses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a powder divider designed primarily for pharmam ceutical use, which is so constructed that it may be easily and quickly manipulated to arrange or set up a powder in a mass of prescribed form or outline and divide such massed powder into a required number of proportions which may be 15 subsequently easily separated into accurate quantities or dosages of the powder material.

The invention will be more readily understood upon reference to the accompanying drawing forming part of the specification, it being understood that slight modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit thereof so long as such modifications come within the terms of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

25 Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the device embodying the present invention, showing the parts assembled in one relation in which they are used.

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of the powder 30 receiving portion or box.

Figure 3 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of the assembled parts of the device showing them in another operative relation.

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the rack or leveling device.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the device is shown in Figure 1 as it is assembled for an initial step in its use, which step is for the purpose of leveling a quantity of 40 powdered material and tamping it into a required form to be readily marked off into divisions. The invention as shown consists of a box-like powder portion or frame I having the end and side walls 2 and 3 respectively and having the top and bot- 45 tom open. The faces 4 of the interior of the box are perpendicular to the planes of the open top and. bottom sides. This box may be made of any suitable material such as wood, hard rubber, or the like.

50 It is also to be understood that while the box is shown as in the form of a rectangle it may be made square or in any other configuration which may be found satisfactory. In association with the box I there is employed a block 5 which 5 is of the proper form or configuration to be inserted into and snugly fit in the box I, the block having end and side walls 6 and I respectively formed for smooth sliding contact with the inner faces 4 of the walls of the box.

A side face of the block 5 is divided into a 5 number of rectangular areas 8 by the employment of ribs extending over this face. These areas may be set off by extending the ribs longitudinally in spaced parallel relation or trans versely in spaced parallel relation so as to make 10 the areas defined extend the full length of the face or the full width of the face or the ribs may extend both longitudinally and transversely to divide the face into a series of areas extending through the length of the block and across the block. In the illustration of the invention, the areas 8 have been arranged in two longitudinally extending groups by providing the raised transverse ribs 9, the central rib III bisecting the transverse ribs and providing a border rib II 50 which outlines the block as shown. The ribbed surface shown of the block 5 is divided into twelve areas but it will be understood that the invention is not to be confined to the use of the block having this number of areas laid off on a face thereof but may have any desired number of areas or it may have several side faces so marked off so that each of the faces would have a different number of areas from the other faces, thus making it convenient by the use of a single block only to divide a powder prescription into any number of parts or doses in which they are commonly prescribed.

The numeral I2 generally designates a smoothing device for use in the box I, which device may be referred to as a rake. This consists of the two fiat bodies or boards I3 and I4, having the slots I5 and I6 respectively, and a nut and screw unit II for adjustably securing the boards together. The board I3 is of a width to extend across the open top of the box I and the board I4 is of a width to extend across the interior of the box with its opposite end edges in close proximity to the opposite inside walls thereof. By adjusting the board I4 upon the board I3, the board I4 may be made to extend to the proper depth within the box I so that a powder placed in the box may be smoothed off. While this convenient smoothing device has been shown and described, it will be apparent from the subsequent description that it is not necessary to the proper use of the divider, as a powder placed in the box may be easily smoothed out to a constant depth within the box by the use of the block 5.

In the use of the divider the pharmacist DOUIS-55 the powder which is to be divided into the box I, the box first being placed upon a suitable level surface, such as a pharmacists pill tile. The powder is then leveled off in the box by the use of the rake device l2 so that it will be of even depth throughout the area of the box or this leveling may be accomplished by placing the block within the box with the smooth surface down for contact with the powder and by then gently shifting the box so as to agitate the powder, the powder may be brought to the desired level condition. During this operation, the block may be lightly pressed down in the box with the finger so that the top surface of the leveled powder will be made smooth. It will, of course, be understood that after the powder has been placed in the box and the block inserted, the block will project slightly above the top of the box so that the two bodies may be conveniently held with the fingers. After smoothing the leveled powder and pressing it firmly with the block so that it will be massed to a certain degree and assume a contour conforming with the interior contour of the box, the block 5 is removed and inverted so that the ribbed surface will be directed down into the box and then the block is replaced and pressed firmly down against the powder so as to effect the lining off or marking of the surface of the formed powder mass. After this has been done, while the block is held with one finger, the box is raised from around the powder and the block and then the block is removed from the set up powder body leaving the said body shaped up into a rectangle with the top surface marked off with the number of smaller rectangles outlined upon that face of the block which was last pressed down on the powder.

The formed and marked off body of powder may then be divided into the marked number of portions by the use of a spatula, in the usual manner. a

This process consumes only about one-tenth the time used by the old, inaccurate method of hand and eye measurement.

I am aware that other pharmaceutical powder dividers have been patented; but these devices either will not divide an individual prescription into a desired number of accurate doses, or they are so mechanically complicated as to be impractical for prescription work.

I claim:

1. A powder divider of the character described, comprising a powder receiver in the form of a box having an open top and an open bottom, the inner wall surfaces of the box being perpendicular to the planes of the open top and bottom, and pressing and marking means for powder in the box, consisting of a block body having a smooth plane surface and a surface having marking ribs thereon defining a plurality of areas of corresponding size and configuration, said block body being of a size to fit snugly in said box with either of said surfaces directed downwardly toward the open bottom thereof.

2. A powder dividing device comprising a box having straight side and end walls and having its top and bottom open, and a block body of a size and configuration to be snugly inserted into said box through either the open top or bottom, said block body having a smooth plane face and a plurality of ribs defining a series of areas of corresponding size and design upon another face, the block body being insertible into the box with either of said faces directed toward the open bottom.

L. F. MARTIN. Js. 

